Kingdom Hearts III: The Heart of Everything
by diddlydoobop
Summary: Sora and company go full throttle in their war against Darkness, with Maleficent and Xehanort daring them closer through the angry curl of their fingers. Kairi and Lea venture on their own adventure against orders, desperate to not be left behind on another adventure, while Riku and Mickey go searching for Aqua in the Realm of Darkness.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! This is Mister Mistofelees, the majestic kitty known far and wide among feline companions for being so spectacular.**

 **Okay but no, in all seriousness, thanks for checking out my story. In the third game of this fantabulous series, its been confirmed that Sora and company will be in their early twenties. So, the same will be said for this story as well. That being said, expect the drop of a small swear word here and there every now and then (nothing course or anything). Without further ado, I grant you access to this _hopefully_ delightful story. Be sure to leave a review if you have anything you'd like to say, criticism is welcomed as well (but please don't just be rude).**

 **This story was brought to light thanks to the trailers going about YouTube.**

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 _Disclaimer: Nothing in regards to Kingdom Hearts or Disney belong to me in any shape or form. No amount of money is being made off of this fanfiction, I'm merely a girl in love with a videogame._

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 **CHAPTER I:** **_Damned Is The Fool_**

Maleficent made a guttural noise in the back of her throat before she slammed the book shut with a particularly harsh bang, dust follicles lifted from the cover to greet her and she sneezed a response. Scowling, she waved an open hand to disrupt the spread and growled. Months had passed since the Nobodies had cleared from Castle Oblivion, since she and Pete had taken over the construction for themselves and their twitchy, starving Heartless.

Pete's concerns over how close this place was to the darkness had been right, the Heartless were less inclined to obey when in their prime of power. But then, it was a foolish thing to underestimate the talents of Maleficent. She was a true Mistress of Shadows, the sleeping intent of a ferocious fire-breathing reptile waited just beneath this easy flesh. She would be damned before she allowed the Heartless freedom to ignore her express demands, especially after she had been the one to assist King Mickey in his quest to halt Xemnas. Sickening as it was, she refused to allow _His Highness_ to believe there was an ounce of kindness in her. Taking this castle had benefited her all on her own.

If only she could force a book to reveal answers to her.

Maleficent had scraped through the books in the library she'd found, each one ancient and valued deeply enough to keep around for so long. She had hoped to come across something which she could use to lead her in victory once and for all, but all that the aged crinkling pages offered were useless words of wisdom and the ways of The Great Ones through history. Each scrawled cursive sentence withered her patience further and further, she was beginning to consider brute force as an option (she must've had enough Heartless to crush Mickey and his do-gooder team), but that only surfaced the memory of one particular face in the blasted light.

Sora's gracious blue eyes and unwavering curve of a grin swam into view before her mind's eye, what a wonder he was. And what magnificent power he procured from the use of his Keyblade, beyond anything she'd ever witnessed. Suddenly, Maleficent was gripped with a ferocious burn of hatred and she used the brunt of her arms to shove aside everything sitting on the surface of the desk she stood before. She was beginning to fracture, a tremble quivered through her and she curled her long fingers into shaking fists. She _despised_ Sora and his two dear friends. They didn't belong here, in this universe of magic and battle. They held sound belief that both darkness and light were meant to be balanced, one could not reign supreme over the other; they needed one another in order to sustain. Well, to that, Maleficent scoffed. Ignorant children. Things could not be so easy, not under the sky _they all shared._

"Sounds like things ain't goin' so well."

Maleficent raised her head towards the doorway and glowered daggers towards the heavyset figure filling it out. Pete was bearing her a knowing smile, causing the sorceress another boil of outrage to mark it's threat beneath her skin. "Pete," she managed through the rough scrape of her teeth. "What did I tell you about bothering me while I'm studying?"

Pete shrugged indefinitely and scratched absently at the stubbed bridge of his nose. "Just thought you might like to use some company. I can see things ain't so successful here, maybe you should take a break and relax a little bit." He offered her a smile then, one which made a black bolt of fury tear through her in quiet anger. How _dare_ he grin at her like that?! As though they were friends upon an equal level! Pete was her subordinate, a lackey too stupid to think on his own, and the only reason she kept him around was because he'd proven his use in the past a few times.

"You're wasting your time," Maleficent snarled, bending to begin recollecting the items she'd shoved from her desk. "I haven't the patience to entertain you, there's far too many books to consult. Why not make yourself useful and go searching for things in the castle we haven't discovered yet?" She turned and shooed him away with her hands, hoping to deliver a clear message that his presence was not desired. Alas, Pete remained standing in her line of sight, understanding seemed to escape him.

"I already _tried_ looking for something," he insisted, something Maleficent felt she very much doubted about him. "There's nothin' but stairs and plain ol'bedrooms. I searched through a desk I found, and all I came across was this useless piece of paper!" He crossed his arms and glared towards the wall, obviously sharing a grudge with the desk that had proven utterly boring. However, something about this news caused Maleficent to perk up with interest, her eyes thoughtful.

"This paper you speak of," she began softly. "What was written on it?"

"Absolutely nothin'!" Raved the oversized cat, his gaze shimmered and his foot stomped. "It was just a blank piece of paper all old and wrinkled. It wasn't even good to write on, the stupid thing seemed too delicate to even hold!"

Maleficent wondered if perhaps Pete was only being dramatic. After all, why keep a piece of paper if it was so old? Certainly, it was good to keep stalk for letter writing and list making, but for there to only be a single sheet? Maybe the poor witch was in a state of exhaustion she couldn't erase, one which troubled her with hopes of a long awaited breakthrough from Pete's lack of observation. It could've just truly been a questionably old piece of paper that was never used. Even still, she made her demand. "Take me to it."

Pete was clearly confused by her longing, but he still took her through the twists and turns of the castle until they came upon an abandoned study. There, in a wastebasket beside a rickety old desk, sat a crumpled piece of paper waiting silently. Maleficent reached within and gently undid the crinkled mess, smoothing it out until the paper was semi-flat and she could see the front. There, sketched entirely in black, was a large cube up at the very top of the page, and scrawled beneath it were cursive letters spelled in a language so ancient, it was presumed lost forever. Luckily, the sorceress recognized this tongue and, though it took some sounding out, managed to read the very first line written there. _'Damned is the fool who dare summons this box into the universe.'_

"It's a spell," she murmured to herself as she took a long moment to read over the next couple sentences. "For a box that can manipulate the darkness in the hearts of others, how _interesting."_ Suddenly, she felt a surge of outrage spear through her sternum, and she whirled on her subordinate in a flurry of black. "You told me there was nothing written here!" She snarled, her irises shimmered a threatening neon green. "You blatantly _lied_ to me!"

Pete cowered away from her, lifting his hands and lowering his ears as he scrambled to put distance between them. "W-what are'ya talkin' about?!" He stuttered out, body hunched down as a sign to his vulnerability. "Th-there ain't nothin' written there, it's completely blank! Have you lost it?"

Maleficent drew herself upright and lifted the paper towards her eyes, scanning over the illustration repeatedly to make certain she wasn't being foolish. Certainly not, there was definitely words written there, but why couldn't Pete see them? She peered curiously towards the feline above her paper and pondered the situation, then realization dawned on her. The paper was enchanted! Those not gifted in the art of magic and sorcery could not observe what was written here, but Maleficent most definitely could. Her lips curved upward into a large smile, her fingers tightened drastically around the old paper and she turned away, starting for the exit of the study. "I have some translations to see towards," she said without looking back at a dumbstruck Pete. "There will be absolutely _no_ interruptions. Not unless you want to pay a very high fine, am I understood?"

She didn't receive a verbal response, but the chatter of his teeth was certainly confirmation enough. _Hear me mouse King,_ she thought with a dark narrow of her gaze. _You and your army of Light will fall._

•¶•

Riku found her in her room, humming distractedly while she fidgeted shakily in making her bed. She, Riku, and Sora had all spent ample time at the Mysterious Tower, with the auburn learning the use of her Keyblade beside Lea (and his natural taste of sarcasm) and Sora did all he was permitted to in assisting the two in learning. Unfortunately, Master Yen Sid limited the brunette to overseeing much of the training considering he wasn't a master himself. As for Riku? He and King Mickey were preparing to descend into the Dark Realm in search of Aqua, and Kairi had become awfully jittery as the days began to approach.

Riku had a few hours before it was officially time to return to the darkness, he felt that he knew the inviting stretch of shadows better than the vibrant glow of light, it scared him more than he liked to admit that he was overly susceptible to giving in. But he owed it to Aqua to remain strong, after the way she'd sacrificed herself to keep the rush of Heartless at bay while Kingdom Hearts was closed, she deserved to be saved.

The toe of his shoe gently kicked open her door, it slowly swung open with a creak and Kairi spun around with an audible gasp of surprise. The tension in her shoulders receded when she found it was only her friend and she smiled anxiously towards the silver haired boy. "Riku," she greeted softly. "I, ah, I didn't know you were still here. I thought you were leaving today. Er, night." She sent a look out her window and frowned, still unused to the fact that daylight appeared nonexistent in this particular world. Riku knew she used to love the starlight, the curved smirk of a crescent moon, but he wondered how much she missed the sunlight.

He entered wearily, his smile was small and cautious and his wrists were crossed casually behind his back. "I am," he confirmed for her. "But I've got a few hours before it's time. Mickey is back at the Disney Castle attending personal matters before he's ready to leave. Plus, I don't think the Queen is in good spirits about this either. He's probably-"

"Woah woah _woah,_ " she interrupted, her obviously fake grin vanishing instantly. "What do you mean _either?_ I'm-I am perfectly fine-"

"Kairi," Riku exhaled, sliding his gaze towards the neatly cared for bed. "You've never been this clean about anything, don't you remember that Sora and I have been in your bedroom before?"

Kairi followed his line of vision, observing the meticulous care she had offered to the bedsheets, realizing how uncharacteristically careful she had been. She grimaced and sank slowly on the edge of the mattress, absently rubbing her hand against the smooth comforter, avoiding his gaze it seemed. "Well, you know," she mumbled to herself. "This isn't my home, might as well be polite." Her bottom lip pulled itself between her teeth and she bit down hard enough to make the soft pink flesh turn white. Riku scratched at the back of his neck as he made a slow approach, gazing up towards the ceiling as he considered something he could say to her.

"It's going to be okay," he finally decided, never particularly talented at speaking behind his words. He knew what he was there for, Kairi needed his reassurance and he wouldn't leave without granting it to her. "You should know that. The King wouldn't ask me to come along if he thought I'd be in danger, you just gotta have faith."

Kairi's eyes sliced over to his and the boy tensed, realizing he might've said the wrong thing. "I do have faith," she said defensively, pulling her legs up on the bed. "All I've done is have faith for you guys, you and Sora. But that doesn't mean I don't worry about you guys, and you have to understand Riku. You're going into the Realm of Darkness!"

"It's not like I'm new to darkness Kairi," he chuckled, hoping it would earn him a smile somewhere. Instead, she stared towards him with shadowed blue eyes owlish and bemused, chest rising and falling while the muscles in her jaw worked. Riku sighed and let himself sit against her bed, scooting close to her and lightly reaching out to touch the tips of his fingers to her ankle. "I have to do this," he murmured, refusing to meet her gaze. He hoped she would sense the aching truth there, the pleading undertone that just needed her to understand and be without him for awhile. She wouldn't be alone, Sora was there to keep her out of harm's way and, based on the intensity of their relationship (of course he'd noticed), he guessed that wouldn't be so terrible for her. But he needed to go after Aqua, he hadn't a choice but to search for her in the Dark Realm because he owed it to her to put forth the attempt.

Kairi shifted in discomfort, she let her hands rub softly over her pink skirt and slipped her eyes away towards the wall. "I know you do," she finally relented. Delicately, she leaned forward and touched his hand with hers, and somehow managed to dredge up her own version of a smile again. Riku was so proud of her, she'd grown so much from that innocent girl he used to stare after on their beach paradise; she was so determined and cared fiercely for the ones she adored most. She didn't think herself above sacrifice, and being a Princess of Heart meant little in the eyes of her values. She was a warrior, she always had been, and she deserved that recognition.

Riku turned up his palm and squeezed her fingers, wishing he could somehow flood his strength into her veins just to reassure himself that she was going to be alright when he returned to her. "I'll be back," he swore, and God did he mean it. He couldn't stand being separated from his friends anymore, not when they were finally all together like this. He would come back, then he, Sora, and Kairi - the most powerful trio in the universe - would kick Xehanort where they knew it hurt most..


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER II:** **_To Free Your Innermost Self_**

He twisted his hand around to gaze curiously towards his knuckles, dark blue orbs rounded in wide inquiry as though the outstretched digits spoke of wonderment. Ventus flexed his fingers, they seemed to work pleasantly with each bend, he was still whole despite the colorful swirling void surrounding him. He was standing alone upon a platform, and engraved below was the image of a boy curled into his own body, his eyes shut tightly in permanent slumber. Though his hair hadn't any pitch, instead replaced with chestnut, the resemblance to Vanitas was uncanny. It was overly suspicious as well as conflicting, for Ventus could work up no courage in which to despise the familiar face sleeping peacefully below him. Instead, looking towards the still picture stretched across the platform, all he felt was warmth.

 _This is your heart._

Ventus felt eerily safe here, and he didn't have very many intentions of leaving anytime soon. However, the scuff of boots against the platform brought him uncomfortable knowledge that he was not alone in this realm of peace. It took awhile of searching in circles before the one responsible for the sound materialized from a whirl of darkness, piercing yellow eyes greeted him with a begrudging scowl. Ventus reacted instantly, he dismissed the tranquility to the environment and extended his arm to summon his Keyblade. Where his fingers went to close around the hilt of his beloved weapon, they shut on air instead. He shot a look of surprise towards his empty grip, perplexed by the lack of enchantment coming to his aide.

Vanitas snorted and waved away his hand, rolling his eyes in clear annoyance. "Don't even bother," he deadpanned. "This is a serenity of peace. Meaning, as much as I'd absolutely love a do-over of our fight, it's not gonna happen while we're here."

Ventus ignored his jabs and instead focused harder on bringing his Keyblade from a source of light, was it not part of his heart? Not even a spark greeted him upon command, Vanitas stood patiently on the side with his wrists crossed behind his back, his eyes gazed boredly towards his other half as silence stretched across them. Soon, Ventus realized he was being quite embarrassing towards himself and gave up on the prospect of gaining control of his supposedly loyal weapon, instead turning a scowl towards the dark enigma. "Fine," he relented begrudgingly. "Do you know where we are? Is this still my head?"

Vanitas flicked observatory eyes towards the colorful atmosphere surrounding them both and absently shook his head. "If we were," he explained in a condescending tone, "then we'd be able to summon our Keyblades. We're in the heart."

"My heart?" Ventus wondered aloud, although it was only meant to be a thought. His eyes flicked down towards the boy etched against the floor as a hand rose up to press against his chest. If this was his own heart, then why was he trapped here? Certainly, he would be able to escape his own body through sheer will, yet there didn't appear to be any exits showing him a way out. He needed to find a way to reach his friends again, however, Terra and Aqua needed him most of all and he couldn't afford to be stuck here with his evil other side like this. Were they still alive? What had happened at the Keyblade Graveyard, after Vanitas had forced him to fight?

Speaking of which, the other boy had started cackling in obnoxious laughter at the way Ventus was desperately searching the area. "I'm sorry," Vanitas said in a manner that made the apology seem uselessly invalid. "It's just, you look like you _really_ think you're getting out of here. It's been over ten years Veni, or wait... Not for you, right? You think it's been less than a few hours at most."

Ventus had snapped his gaze towards Vanitas in a show of evident disbelief. Ten _years?!_ That was impossible, how could so much time slip through his fingers without his knowledge? "You're a liar!" Ventus immediately accused with angry fists clenched fiercely at his sides. "You expect me to believe I've been here for ten years and hadn't noticed? What are you even doing here, I _destroyed_ you. You're supposed to be dead!"

Vanitas snorted at this as though amused by the declaration. "You can conquer your darkness," he reasoned in an infuriatingly calm voice. "But you can't kill it. And I'm not lying. Outside of your body, wherever you happen to be, you've been asleep for ten straight years. No aging, no speaking, just sleeping. You may have won the battle but it came with a price. Imagine three hours here. Every three hours is another ten years you've been sleeping. Pretty cool, huh?"

Ventus panicked immediately, because what if Vanitas was telling the truth?! What if ten years had truly gone by and he'd been here, sleeping, abandoning Terra and Aqua while he was trapped in his own heart. He felt robbed of his own life, outraged that so much time had passed and he never learned what became of his dear comrades. This was all _his_ fault. If Vanitas hadn't forced him into battle in the first place, he would've never fallen prey to this eternal slumber. With a cry, he threw himself forward and attacked the yellow eyed miscreant. It didn't matter if he had his Keyblade or not, he'd kill Vanitas with his bare hands over and over again for as long as they lived there.

However, their bodies never collided. Instead, as he flung himself, he ended up hurling into an invisible wall that knocked him backwards on his back. Sitting up, he shook the ache away from his hand and glowered up at a bored looking Vanitas staring blankly towards the blanket of ebony up above. "I told you," he stated blandly. "This is a serenity of peace. No violence. You're stuck here until the world ends and there's nothing you can do about it."

Ventus shoved himself up on his feet, his chest rising and falling with each harsh breath he took. "You're stuck here too!" He pointed out, shouting uncontrollably. "So just shut your mouth!"

Vanitas's lips twitched briefly, he spun with expertise grace and started towards the edge of the tall platform, his wrists still quietly crossed behind him. "This isn't your heart," he said softly, and Ventus sent him a look of question. Vanitas stayed silent for a very suspenseful time until Ventus thought he was going to shatter, then he turned around again. "I don't know who this heart belongs to, but it's definitely not yours. We're not getting out of here without their say so, and something tells me they don't even realize that we exist. So I'd suggest you get comfortable, time moves especially slow here."

Of course it did. Ventus knew he wasn't ever going to be able to sit still for the rest of his life, he needed to find out what became of his beloved friends, why hadn't they come back for him? Perhaps they did, perhaps they just didn't have a way of bringing him back. _Perhaps they never would._ Gripped with agonizing despair, Ventus lifted up his eyes and put his deepest hopes into Terra and Aqua. But most of all, he put his strength into whoever this heart belonged to and willed them to always do the right thing.

•¶•

Kairi had made so much progress over the time that passed, the determined spark to be as reliable a fighter as her friends made her that much fiercer to gaze upon. Sora thought she was a different person entirely, a girl very different from the one he was sure he loved as he chased her on the beach. It seemed such a long while ago that Sora had willingly sacrificed himself so that she would live onward, how she hadn't been alright with giving him up that easily and recognized him even through his haze in darkness.

But they had just been children.

Lea didn't look up from his book but he still managed to sound accusatory as he turned another page. "Easy there slugger," he stated absently. "One of these days, she's gonna catch you gawking at her and you're gonna have to do that embarrassing stutter that you do whenever you talk to her."

Sora flushed and sent a look of bewilderment towards the spiky haired boy, too absorbed in his studies to acknowledge him. Lea, Sora, and Kairi all spent a few hours of the day together in the library searching the missused books for the purpose of locating a certain answer which they sought. Lea and the other former Nobodies had been set free of their chains to the darkness, yet Roxas had never appeared as himself. Ansem's reports had left them without answers, leaving the adolescents alone to folly over texts that held little marvel towards them regarding their search. Kairi had been optimistic about lending a hand the first time Sora had asked her, but now he recognized the bored slouch in her posture as she reached up to retrieve yet another book from a shelf.

This obsessive research was beginning to seem so futile, and Sora wasn't sure on how to properly reach the boy within him to ask of his own prior knowledge. Naminé would've been of grand assistance as well, but Kairi stated the petite blonde was being suspiciously tight lipped over the matter. They all knew that both Naminé and Roxas were special case Nobodies, and perhaps that was why they weren't standing here with the rest of them. Sora simply didn't have the heart to tell Lea that perhaps it was for the best.

"I wasn't gawking," Sora defended himself with a flash of his bright eyes. "I was just...observing. And can you keep your voice down?"

Lea did look up from his written text at this and glanced sideways at his companion, the glimmer of a smirk touched his lips. Before he could say anything more to tease him, a heavy object landed across from the duo and both gazes lifted to meet the grim expression written over Kairi's face. "I found something," she said quietly, and Sora immediately recognized the deep note of guilt in her voice. "Actually, I found something awhile ago. I-I just didn't say anything because I was hoping to find a better answer! But, it's been awhile and..." Without looking at them, she turned the book to face the boys and pushed it shyly towards them.

Both Sora and Lea bent forward to read the paragraph her slim finger tapped against, their eyes moved over the scribbled writing with swift excitement. _'A person made up of two physical halves is indeed a rarity, and to only one must be dominant lest they both collapse. To set free your innermost self would be to fall into the darkness, plunge forever into nothingness, and soon lose sight of morality.'_

Sora grimaced and lifted his gaze up to share an intense look with Kairi, both of them knew what that meant for them. To give Roxas and Naminé the freedom they deserved was to willingly unlock the blackest parts of their hearts and risk total self destruction to who they were today. Sora thought of the only other time he'd ever done such a thing, it had been the only way to give Kairi and the other Princesses of Heart their lives back. That dark void he'd floated in, the murky waters of consuming thoughtlessness, the slowly processing loss of his memory, it had been a wonder Kairi was able to pull him out the way she had. He could never wish anything like that upon his beloved friend, she'd sacrificed so much already.

Lea glanced between the two with an unreadable sharpness about him, Sora didn't like when he couldn't decipher something in a person. Kairi scratched the back of her neck and straightened, her nose scrunching thoughtfully. "Hey, don't look so down guys," she insisted with one of her soft smiles. "Everyone figured the Nobodies were doomed to the darkness forever too, but just look! You all got your hearts back, and that's what's most important. We've always been able to do the impossible, right?"

Sora couldn't restrain a grin. He and Kairi had always been known as the dynamic duo of undefeatable happiness, it was so like her to make forth the attempt of lifting everyone from their woes. After Riku and the King had officially disappeared into the Realm of Darkness, it had been Kairi that grabbed his hand and filtered firm belief through his veins that they'd come back safe and alive.

Lea looked away from her, studying the book she'd placed in front of him, and muttered a quiet "right" under his breath.

It was then that the doors suddenly burst open, the trio shifted attention to the newcomers as they came stumbling in to disrupt the setting. An instantly recognizable avian and canine collapsed together on the floor, the white duck made an obnoxious sound of displeasure and flipped over to thwack his less intelligent comrade until he got the memo and retreated backwards. At the sight of them, Sora's eyes instantly lit up and he scrambled to get out of his chair and greet them happily.

"Donald! Goofy!" He called out to them, rushing over and helping them both up on their feet. "What're you guys doing here? I thought you'd both be with the Queen until Mickey came back." Over his shoulder, Kairi and Lea both exchanged a look of complication.

Goofy scratched momentarily at his scalp, like it would take him a second to remember what exactly he was doing there in the first place. "That's what we thought too," he prompted, then snapped his fingers when a realization dawned upon him. "We've been lookin' everywhere in the tower for ya! The King left us clear instructions after he left."

"Instructions?" Sora wondered, leaning forward for further information.

"Yup!" Donald spoke up from below, clearly still annoyed about having to look up and down the tower and then be knocked into the ground when he finally managed it. "Merlin and the Fairy Godmother are over at the Disney Castle now, they're lending their magic to keep a protective orb of impenetrable light around it so that Minnie is safe. So long as she doesn't leave the castle, nothing can touch her. But they can only keep it up for so long."

Sora knew how physically draining it was to use magic like that, he could only imagine the type of toll it was taking on the enchanters to keep something like that constantly flowing. Donald went on, a serious note taking shape in his typically quarky voice. "It's about Xehanort, Mickey caught wind of him moving through the worlds and causing destruction to the people inhabiting them. He doesn't know what he's trying to do, but he left it up to us to stop anything especially horrible from happening."

"You know what that means, dontcha?" Goofy asked with one of his wide grins of excitement.

Of course he did, Sora knew better than anything what that meant. Adventure. Near death. And yet another battle that would insist they perhaps give up their very lives. Before he could respond, Kairi's quiet voice filtered from behind him, "Sora?" He turned to regard her as she crossed the room and closed the wide distance between them. "Are you going too?"

Sora was certain this was the exact opposite of everything Kairi was hoping for once they were reunited; yet again being left on the sidelines while her two dearest friends went on to fight the darkness. While perhaps being a Princess of Heart didn't matter much to Kairi, it didn't mean it wasn't a big deal to be one to the enemies. She was too precious to take out there into the face of danger where it'd be far too easy for Xehanort to snatch her up. "I have to," Sora said, with a pleading undertone that asked for her complete cooperation. "I can't put something like this on hold until Riku comes back. Er, you understand don't you?"

He reached out and grasped her soft hands with his own and pulled her in closer to him, dropping his voice so that only she could hear him. "I'm not leaving you behind again. Just let me worry about the larger stuff so that you don't get kidnapped for the third time." He smiled humorously and her lips twitched into the ghost of one to match. Still, there lied a twinkle of uncertainty in the depths of her pale blue eyes. "Seriously," Sora reassured her, "I know how hard you've been working. You're tough as nails Kairi, and we're in this together this time around."

This time, Kairi did smile and her grip around his hands tightened tremendously. He very much did want her by his side during the battle about to ensue, both he and Riku knew just how powerful this little spitfire of a girl was. They were both proud to know her as their friend, she was certainly a force not to be reckoned with, but still valuable enough to be overwhelmed by the ones that wanted her most. Sora would do positively _anything_ to keep her safe, he wasn't about to lose her again. Not while she was here, after how hard they'd all worked to be together again.

Donald cleared his throat in a loud, obvious manner and Sora blinked out of his haze; realizing they'd just been staring at each other. Blushing a bright hue of red, Sora stumbled backwards from Kairi and fumbled to find his voice again. "Um, I mean, right, okay! You guys keep up the awesome training, we'll be back soon absolutely!" He whirled around and glared at his animal companions as they snickered into their hands, quickly shushing them and hurrying them out the door.

"Bye Sora," Kairi waved to him, a sad but lingering smile touching her lips. He waved back to her just before the doors shut and cut them off from each other.

•¶•

It was cold here, damp and eerily quiet. A world made entirely of smooth black surface. Every now and then came the chatter of something unrecognizable, or the high whine of the biting wind. Riku and the mouse king took it all in with a sweep of their eyes, his eyes narrowed in determination, but unmistakable fear. _So, this is the Realm of Darkness..._


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER III: ****_One Thing Off_**

No turning back now, Riku sifted a hand through the length of his spiky silver hair, his eyes metallic in the darkness. "So where do we even start?" He wondered aloud, it wasn't as though Master Yen Sid had given them a map to go off from. He supposed it would've been a matter of grand luck to stumble across Aqua upon entrance, of course he expected to have to look for her. Mickey was so clearly out of his element, his breaths came out in short white puffs, his gloved fingers flexed repeatedly. A bearer of light in a realm embedded in only darkness, of course it would bring him unwavering discomfort. Riku couldn't imagine what it had done to Aqua... It concerned him, he didn't feel a sensation of suffocation, he breathed as easily as he would in any of the worlds he'd visited. Although he wasn't darkness anymore, he wasn't really light either; nothing like Kairi and Sora. He walked the line between both worlds, a bit of darkness and a bit of light, twilight he supposed. Being stuck in this world for too long might tip the balance, he thought with dismay, but kept the fear from tainting his eyes. He was doing this for Aqua, she'd suffered enough as it was and he would leave her to rot no longer.

Mickey inhaled, his wits gathered about himself, and turned to regard the taller lad. "I guess all we can do is go forward," he said. Riku didn't ask if he was alright, just nodded and relieved the mouse king from taking the first step. Although it was perhaps not ideal for Riku to take the lead, he knew his dear friend's thoughts were plagued with unaccounted for worry. Worry for his own sake, for Aqua's, Riku's. Worry for the wife he left at home protected only so long as she stayed in her castle. And he knew, he shouldn't have agreed to come if his only resolution would have been to hide behind Mickey. Together, he and his dearest friend pushed against the darkness.

•¶•

Radiant Garden wasn't the same as it had been when Sora left it. Stepping from his ship with his comrades in tow, he let deep blue eyes scan the setting to a world once desolated, broken apart and filth ridden but still brimming with the hope of reconstruction. It appeared that hope had been met, for the trio was greeted by rows of colorful flowerbeds and buildings not depressed through cracks and chipped paint. Everything seemed brighter, livelier, fragrance from petals filtered peacefully through the air and birds chirped their songs as they danced with the breeze. "Woah," Sora commented with a sideways glance at Donald. "Are we in the right place?"

Donald tore his eyes from the scenery to look in bewilderment at his friend and shrugged in response. Laughter resounded and all three of them turned to address the source, a familiar figure standing at the newly designed steps with a smile gracing his assets. "Yea," Leon confirmed with a single nod of his head. "You guys are in the right place. We tried to restore the town to it's full glory. It's not exactly as it was but we came close enough I'm pretty sure." As he descended the steps, Sora felt a warmth of genuine appreciation spread through him and he stiffened, wondering where it had delivered from. Deciding to save it for the future, he smothered it down and chose instead to let himself be enveloped in the gladness that followed seeing an old friend again. As he drew near, Sora met him halfway and rushed to cross the distance between them.

"Leon!" he shouted and went to tackle him in a hug, to which the older man grasped his shoulders to hold him back from doing so. It did nothing to hinder Sora's excitement. "I'm so happy to see you! It's been forever, how's everyone been?"

"Everyone's pretty good," Leon grinned and released him when his stance promised a certain calm aspect. "You've gotten a lot taller I see. I received a letter from the king that said Riku became a Keyblade master. Still chasing the cut huh?"

He nudged Sora with his elbow teasingly and the boy scowled in turn. He'd resented not becoming a master for sometime, but most of all, had been wildly enthused when Riku was said to ascend in titles. And not at all jealous. No no, Sora didn't know jealousy of course. What was there to be _jealous_ about? Goofy interrupted his thoughts when he and Donald approached as well, smiling their familiar greetings. "Say Leon," the canine proclaimed. "Ya haven't been having any trouble with the Heartless by chance right?"

"No," Leon answered, shaking his head. "I haven't. Not the Nobodies either. Things have been relatively quiet here, but something tells me that's about to change. Wherever you three go, trouble is inevitably going to follow."

"Hey!" snapped a disgruntled Donald. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

Leon grinned with his teeth and gestured with his head for them to follow along after him. "C'mon. There's something I wanted to show you guys. One thing's a little off, maybe you'll be able to help." Turning, he started towards the staircase again and the three wasted no time pursuing. As they went, they noted how much larger the population had become since the last time they were here. People conversed and carried on without qualm, some even pausing to wave or nod their hellos to the newcomers. At their curious expressions, Leon answered the unspoken question. "People started moving here again once we got the place built back up. It's peaceful here. Oh hey, Donald, your uncle's ice cream business really took off too. Everyone absolutely loves the sea salt flavor he perfected."

"It only took him so long," Donald muttered. Sora didn't doubt he had an unspoken curiosity over the aspect of his uncle's succession. Perhaps he even missed his nephews, as troublesome as they happened to be. Sora felt an abundance of mirth as they drew closer to Merlin's shelter, being out on another adventure like this felt so good. What was more, he wasn't wondering over the general safety of his comrades this time. Well, for the most part. At least Kairi was safe. Riku was... Sora forced the thought of him to the back of his mind, he couldn't afford to be distracted with fret. Riku was a Keyblade master after all, he could handle himself and Mickey was certain to keep the darkness from consuming him.

They came to the door. Sora didn't have the patience for Leon's casual maneuver to open it and bustled past him to do it himself. The door swung open with a protesting squeal of it's hinges and slammed into the wall beside it with a crash that jostled everyone within from their peace. As the boy came running in, he found it contained only two figures: Yuffie and Aerith were sitting together at the table in the center, sharing a pot of tea. The unexpected burst of interruption had startled the ninja so much, she spilled her tea all over her dark attire with a shout of dismay. Aerith had flinched, but she was always more prone to grace than anything else, one which defied even simple things like jumping from a noise she wasn't prepared for.

Yuffie exhaled harshly and pushed herself angrily from her chair, the legs scraped obnoxiously against the floor and she grumbled things undoubtedly meant to insult the lad had he been able to hear her clearly. Sheepish, Sora scratched the back of his neck and started forward along with his trio of companions, all of which were giving him such a _look_ for being so thoughtless. "Sorry," he apologized, Leon made a show of closing the door in a quieter fashion. "I swear I didn't mean to scare you guys like that."

"Wouldn't be you if the greeting wasn't loud and dramatic in some way," Yuffie answered from her spot at a rusted sink attached to the wall. She looked up and gave him a smile razor sharp as she cleansed herself of the hot beverage she'd doused herself with. Giggling sweetly with humor, Aerith rose up from her seat and moved across the floor, much more forgiving with her gentle smile and soft eyes.

"It's so good to see you again," she said and wrapped Sora up in her embrace. Sora returned the gesture, trying to ignore how much taller than him she was and instead focused on how much he'd missed her soothing serenity.

"You too, I missed you guys so much," he mumbled against her shoulder. She pulled away from him and turned to offer the same affection towards Donald and Goofy. Sora turned around to address Yuffie next and was met with a punch to his shoulder, one hard enough to illicit a pained "OUCH" from him in surprise. Yuffie was unapologetic, her stance firm with her knuckles pressed into her hips.

"Yea, me too," she stated sarcastically. "That's exactly how I felt when you couldn't just enter like a normal person."

Sora opened his mouth to offer his remorse a second time, but Yuffie had already hugged him tight to her chest in a squeeze that threatened to crack his ribcage. Same as ever, thought the brunette; a tiny spitfire of a girl too strong for her own good. She had her face buried into his chest, her words muffled but understood nonetheless. "I seriously missed you guys though. It's been so boring here, all we've been doing is building and working and _ugh._ You being here means there's an adventure to go on, right?" Still hugging him tight, she lifted her head, her eyes round and rich with a hope that left Sora chuckling with amusement.

"You know, I don't think it's a good thing to really _hope_ that something bad is gonna happen," he pointed out.

At once, Yuffie's arms loosened and she took a step back, spluttering objections like she could defend herself from the accusation. Leon stepped in and rescued her, clearing his throat and crossing two bulky arms over his chest. He shot a glance off to the side, one that stifled the sense of happiness Sora had been feeling. Right, one thing was off, he realized with a deep breath. Leon had said as much. The older man gestured with his head towards a familiar thick novel resting casually against a pedestal. "It's Pooh Bear," he said, his voice solemn with displeasure. "Nobody can get in to see him, and Merlin's busy at the Disney Castle so we haven't been able to ask for his assistance. So, you're our last shot."

Sora moved across the floor and retrieved the book, Goofy and Donald followed swiftly behind and watched with curiosity as he examined it blankly from front to back. As he came up woefully short, Leon exchanged a glance with Yuffie and went to guide him, lightly taking the book from out of his grasp and tapping the source of oddities with his index finger. "Look at this," he suggested, and Sora exhaled with embarrassment. At the front cover, glittering a very noticeable purple color, was a very peculiar shape of a keyhole.

"Right, okay," he said and set the novel back down on the pedestal. "No worries guys, I'm the one with the big key after all!" After offering them each a smile of reassurance, he summoned the magical weapon at his side and pointed it towards the lock. It took little of his effort. In just a moment, a beam of light was shooting from his trusty blade and straight into the lock; a click rung out in response and the hole disappeared upon command. Eager, Sora snatched the book up from the surface of the pedestal and cracked open the front cover. He barely had even a moment of breath before a force of some sort was aggressively sucking him into the material of the story.

The book fell to the ground with no one holding it and the front cover snapped shut. Leon panicked as everyone else did and swiped it up from the floorboards, prepared to dive in after him. Lifting it up to view the cover, he was utterly dumbfounded to see the glowing purple lock had returned.

•¶•

Sora hadn't any choice as to where he was landing. He fell in a graceless heap upon the hard ground of a forest clearing and moaned at the ache that sprung up in his bones. With a grunt, he pushed himself up on his feet and brushed off his articles of clothing, blue eyes scoured the area in search of conflict. It was eerily quiet, dark as well; black stretched across the sky, completely empty of the brilliant starlight this place was often known for. He could feel the chill of wrong crawl over his flesh, his fingers flexed for a battle.

"Hello Sora."

A voice he recognized caused him to spin immediately and regard the source. His Keyblade came to his unspoken call and he crouched in his threatening position, his eyes narrowed into harsh blue hues of outrage. Before him stood Zexion, calmly staring back at him from under silver bangs, a book gripped between digits cloaked in ebony gloves. "Nobody," Sora answered venomously, spitting out the word like it left a bad taste in his mouth.

Zexion raised a finger and shook it at him in a way that belittled him. "Now relax yourself, I didn't come here hoping to start a fight. I'm sure your curious as to what became of your friends."

Sora's grip hardened around the handle of his Keyblade, he resisted leaping forth to tear him a new one. Unfortunately, Zexion had the upper hand here, his lip bit in between his teeth and he said nothing. If he let himself talk, who knows what might come out? The Nobody smirked in such a _way_ that left the wielder grappling desperately for self control, he made himself go rigid with straight posture. "Where are they?" he grit, infuriated with the silence.

"I couldn't tell you _exactly_ where I've sent them. What kind of fun would that be?"

"I'm not taking any of this as a _game._ _Tell me where the hell you've taken them!"_

Zexion appeared unfazed by his outburst. If anything, it amused him greatly, a matter that set fire to throbbing veins. "I don't know exactly. I've sent them to many different areas in the universe, they could be anywhere now. If I knew their exact locations, you might find a way to get it out of me. We can't risk that now, can we?"

Perhaps Sora would try anyway. His grip around the handle of his Keyblade was tight enough to warrant white knuckles pressing into the flesh. Zexion's eyes slid down and noted the anxious way he stood, his desperation, his hatred for the man before him, and grinned almost maniacally. "Don't worry," he whispered as a swirling portal of black opened it's ugly mouth just behind him. "All you have to do is find them. Find them and remind them of who they are. Once you do that, they'll return to their homes. Not too hard, right?"

Tendrils of shadows licked affectionately up his side and he stepped backwards into their hold. He was swallowed, and then Sora was alone in the nighttime clearing. Looking up at the blackened sky, blue hues typically vibrant with adventure had darkened with sadness. It seemed so long ago, but he remembered sitting with his friends upon a short hill, looking up contentedly at the stars. Pooh had gazed towards him with small black eyes and asked in his soft voice to _stay_ with him forever. Sora had promised to return, but everyone he'd come to care so deeply for were now... Turning, he pressed a fist to his heart, a silent promise to the ones he'd left uncared for that he would not leave them to suffer on their own. Whatever evil threatened the universe would perish today.

* * *

 **A/N:** I realize that Zexion was one of the few Nobodies that, I guess, returned to his earlier form like Lea had. But I had this idea for Winnie the Pooh and, with him being the one to manipulate books and such, he really was my favorite choice so I'll have to choke on that. Thanks again for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER IV:** ** _Goodbye For Now_**

Pete watched uncertainly as his mistress performed her dark magic, whispering incantations he knew not of as she was surrounded by auras of green and black. A circle of red candles hissed and danced with a wind he could not feel, her eyes swallowed by emerald lights. It was a very special thing to see the queen of ultimate evil demonstrate her secret arts. However, for a man such as Pete, one who wanted little to do with evil too intimate with the scarier sorts of things, he preferred to keep guard at the door. Castle Oblivion shook and rumbled as though to protest. Maleficent cared not, too far gone in her magic to be bothered by the threads of reality.

Pete hadn't any idea what it was she was doing, or what it was she was hoping to accomplish. But to interrupt and ask? he remembered the last time he'd attempted such a feat and suffered consequences very very...unfitting for his taste. Maleficent spread her arms and emerald flames exploded about her, the room smouldered under a suffocating heat and Pete shrank down from the threat. His ears lied flat and two gloved hands raised as though to deflect anything that might dare to bring harm to him. Maleficent inhaled heavily, the room brightened enormously, blindingly, Pete's fur was too hot, too tight around his skin-

And then it was suddenly very silent. Without realizing it, Pete had covered his eyes and proceeded to whimper into his hands. Ever so uncertain, he pulled his hands down away from rounded eyes, trembling with fright. The flames had simmered down. The room had returned to pristine ivory. Maleficent dropped both her arms and scanned the premise. She didn't appear to find what it was she was looking for, an impatient gaze landed on the unfortunate Pete. In a very, suspiciously quiet voice she wondered, "Where is it?"

Pete took a large swallow as he considered his answer. He knew what it had to be, but he also knew what that possibly meant for him. "...W-where's what ma'am?"

Her eyes shimmered with dangerous magic and she made a sound of angered impatience. "The box. Where is the _box?!"_

Pete was genuinely lost, but to say as much aroused worry that he might not make it another second. he voted for utter silence, the confusion in his eyes said all that was necessary. Maleficent was clearly annoyed by his helplessness but rather than punish him for it she stormed over to one of the white walls. Propped against it was a brown rickety table and she snatched it up from the surface. Her eyes read over the words carefully, repeatedly, and then altogether her face fell. She let the paper fall from skeleton thin fingers, Pete watched in concern as it gracefully floated to the ground and landed as though a delicate feather piece.

Although it still reasoned to be a bad idea, Pete coaxed his voice into working. "What is it?"

Maleficent didn't look at him, not at first, blank yellow eyes gazed sadly towards one of the undecorated walls. "The spell," she managed to whisper. "I did it wrong."

Pete tested his luck, leaning forward with ears still submissively flat. "Whaddya mean you-"

 _"I did the spell wrong!"_ she suddenly exploded at him, the dark outline of a dragon marked her irises, the mighty beast tirelessly awaited release from it's tiny shell. Instead, however, she blasted a ball of green fire at the paper by her feet with a terrifying shriek of outrage. The smoke cleared, the paper had moved a few inches from its spot but was otherwise unharmed by the show of magic. She seemed disgruntled and Pete feared she might take her rage out on him instead (something that would _certainly_ be effected by her powers). Desperate to save his own skin, Pete tried to keep her talking.

"Does that mean we have to do it again?"

Maleficent looked at him with a vicious sort of hatred and turned away, clutching two fists at her sides. "No," she whispered quietly. "The box was pulled from the darkness, it's in our realm now. The only problem is...I don't know which world it's in. I'll have to find it by searching each one, I'll have to look for activities of darkness to find it."

Pete exhaled, finding himself greatly relieved to know he'd finally be leaving this stupid castle at least for the time being. It had been brutally boring to wait here for so long, adventure was finally calling his name. He was smart enough to keep the smile off his face, but he couldn't help himself from asking her. "Where would you like to start?"

•¶•

As a little girl, Kairi would write nearly every day in her secret journal; either to start the morning or end the night. She never started it as _'Dear Diary,'_ as she'd been instructed to do when she first received the gift. Rather, she began it with the same repeated reminder so that when she wrote, she did it with a warmed heart. _I have two best friends, they love me more than anyone else._ Kairi couldn't remember being loved by anyone as much as she was by Sora and Riku. But then again, she'd never really had the most...orthodox of families either.

When she practiced, she did it with her boys on her mind. She wanted to be as strong as them, she _needed_ to be. Sora had already been called away into adventure, she'd run out of time for dawddling. There was something dark coming, she could feel it in the marrow of her bones. It terrified and thrilled her all the same.

"Hey Kairi," Lea regarded her with green eyes brighter than anything she'd ever seen. "Wanna do something fun?"

 _God yes._ She restricted the temptation and focused on Destiny's Embrace. She and her training partner had entered one of Yen Sid's special rooms full of magic. Today they would practice the casting of spells, a particular talent Kairi was struggling just a bit with. "I'd love to," she humored kindly and offered him one of her infamously soft smiles. "But we should probably stay focused training right now."

"It has to do with training," he persisted and summoned into a black glove the spinning inferno of his Keyblade. "It's a game, sort've. If I can destroy more things in here with my magic than you can, you have to do one thing that I say. No matter what it is. And if you beat me? I'll have to do whatever you say instead."

Kairi was instantly skeptical. Lea had been practically born casting fire spells and for her to challenge him to a magic contest when she herself still couldn't get it right appeared an act of idiocy. Still, Lea was obviously bored with the constant training; the repetitive nature. If beating her at a silly game would encourage his participation, Kairi didn't mind assisting. "Alright you're on," she agreed, the chipper smile that spread across her lips came genuinely. "I think I might have a pretty good shot this time. I've been practicing a lot."

The floor shook, almost as though acknowledging their competition. And then, suddenly, their names spelled out in golden sparkles high up in the air with the number zero staring down at them. Excitement dashed through Kairi, she summoned her flowery Keyblade to her side and felt the familiar coil of muscle run through her in preparation.

Household objects appeared from thin air. Chairs and tables and couches all bobbed mid-air, daring them to make their moves. Kairi was about to summon an icy wind to reign its destruction, but Lea's formidable shout caused her the mistake of hesitation. Her eyes snapped over just in time to see an explosion of fire emit from the blaze of his Keyblade. It was a storm of flames, Kairi was intelligible enough to cast reflect and block any harm lest she be scorched. His magic was so much stronger than hers, she struggled in keeping the spell going. She couldn't even see in front of herself, it was only a torrent of red, black, and orange.

Though it took a while, the fire sizzled out, the smoke cleared enough to reveal the room again. Kairi's focus faltered just slightly and the reflect spell vanished. She stumbled forward to find the room was cleared entirely of any material, the numbers below their names had changed as well. At least...below Lea's it had. While he beared a thousand, she was still left with nothing but a pitiful zero.

Kairi frowned in disappointment, he could've given her at least a little bit of room for a spell. Unfortunately, he'd demolished the training session in seconds and now, it seemed she was left to the mercy of his will. "Alright," she agreed reluctantly and dismissed Destiny's Embrace from the present. "I'll do whatever you say. What did you have in mind?" Obviously something specific to go through such trouble, why not simply outright ask of her whatever it was he was hoping she'd do?

"Awesome," Lea grinned as his own Keyblade disappeared from beside him. "That means we're going after Sora. Pack your things."

Kairi felt a jolt of electricity run through her at such a suggestion. _Go after Sora?_ It wasn't as though she couldn't stand the idea, all this waiting around for something she didn't know, and her worry for Sora and Riku was so overwhelming she feared she might burst right at her worn seams. But... "We can't do that!" she spluttered, her cheeks warmed hopelessly at the note of fear in her own voice. "We don't even know where he is. And-and, er, everyone really needs us here. At least for now, we have so much to learn!"

"No," Lea disagreed at once with a roll of his electric eyes. _"You_ have so much to learn, but I'm a natural born fighter. Besides, I really doubt you're learning much by setting couches on fire."

Kairi couldn't help the way she cringed at his words, what if Yen Sid could hear them? Insulting his methods of teaching... She pushed a scarlet strand of hair over the shell of her ear and looked up at him through the wispy black of her lashes. "Well I might," she answered with a playful raise of one of her brows. "If maybe you actually _let_ me set a couch on fire every once in awhile."

At this, he sheepishly scratched the back of his neck and smiled with amusement. "Yea, sorry about that," he said with a shrug of his lanky shoulders. "I just knew you'd say no if I didn't suck you into some sort of deal. C'mon now Kairi, you're not the type to break your promises are you?"

Kairi crossed her arms stubbornly. Too easy. She couldn't leave the Mysterious Castle under the circumstances of a _game._ Certainly, if she were to explain such things to Sora, he'd be less than understanding. They weren't kids anymore. "Lea please," she started lightly, but he'd groaned impatiently and started to pace before she could offer him anything more.

"Think about it Kai," he insisted, spinning abruptly to greet her again. "Sora learned on the job, and look at him! He can do all this amazing stuff, because all of it came at him at once. He didn't waste his time in one place doing absolutely nothing."

Again, that was too easy. Sora hadn't been given much of a choice but to learn on the job. Their island had fallen apart, he was dropped into a new world quite suddenly and, if only for survival, had to learn the ropes to using a Keyblade very quickly. Kairi was lucky enough to be trained under the aide of a true master. she couldn't throw herself into danger simply due to something as simplistic as boredom. "It's not that we're doing nothing," she argued. "And besides, I'm a Princess of Heart."

"What does that mean?" Lea wondered and bent forward with half of a cocky grin.

"Well, it means..." she hesitated at the question, unsure herself of what the answer to this would be. It was all she'd heard anytime she suffered a curiosity over the other worlds. She was a Princess of Heart. It was dangerous for her to go anywhere unsupervised. "It means I have a power other people want," she finally decided. "And I have to be responsible with it. Leaving the castle wouldn't be very responsible of me."

Lea nodded like he understood and leaned away from her. He took a breath and crossed his arms over his chest, silent and thoughtful. "You'd go with Sora, wouldn't you?" he wondered, and the question made her cheeks darken with color. Of course she'd go with Sora. If he took her hand and guided her into a pit of darkness, she wouldn't even hold her breath. He'd carried her heart with him for so long, he'd pulled her from the terrors of shadows into the light of his embrace more times than she could count. She trusted him above even herself; she would follow him blindly, through any sort of peril. But these were things she wouldn't say to Lea. Rather, she nodded very slowly, but he was looking at her like he knew exactly where her thoughts had gone at the inquiry.

"Then you can go with me too," he said. "I know we had a rough start, what with me kidnapping you and everything. But I feel like we've been through so much together. We're friends now, you can trust me. You _should_ trust me. Nothing will happen to you so long as I'm here to help. Plus, I can teach you a thing or two about magic on the way."

Kairi was still so very uncertain. She wanted to go after Sora and help him save the worlds again. She also wanted to be here for when Riku and Mickey returned with Aqua, victors from the Realm Of Darkness. Lea saw her internal battle and offered her a single hand, making the final decision for her it seemed. "Come on," he said, and a swirling vortex of darkness opened up behind him, pulling him in. It had been so long since Kairi had traveled through a dark corridor. And this time, she would be doing it with her own free will. One thing was for certain, Lea was going after Sora whether or not she agreed to remain. And if she said no to him now, like she should, like a truly good girl was supposed to, he would turn and abandon her to search for his own fate. She wanted to find Sora, she wanted to show him everything she was capable of. To show _herself_ all she was capable of.

Lea took a step back. The darkness was beginning to swallow him up. "I know you're gonna say yes," he grinned, still with his arm extended invitingly. "Now let's go, we've got a lot of ground to cover."

Kairi reached out and took his hand, the familiar cold of shadows slithered up her body with tentacles of silk and pulled her from reality. It was her turn to save everyone, she was a damsel no longer.

•¶•

 _A single hand shot out from the swirling much of the dead, with skin pale grey like a corpse. Trailing the arm it heaved out a body upon the slick black stone of the land. A man, no, a_ god _gasped his first breath of air in what seemed like forever. His rage burned with every inhalation, the balding of his head was suddenly alight with burning blue flames. Sharp, pointed teeth grit in agonized fury, a taste for blood made his pulse bubble and boil. He rose from the dust and clutched two eager fists. He could feel it, the planets had aligned, and he could at last set freedom to the monsters trapped in their cages. Sora and his blasted fiends perhaps had pertained the best of him this time around, but now he had the upper hand. Hercules. Zeus. Everyone. They would surely perish now that he'd been set free from his chambers..._

•¶•

Something had shifted in the air. Ventus could feel it. The ground rumbled and shook beneath him, he had to hold out his arms desperately to keep his balance from slipping. Blue eyes snapped in question towards Vanitas, but the other lad was grinning with such malice. Such _victory._ "Someone opened the door for me," he whispered, his voice swollen with a sort of glee that made the blonde sick with worry. "I guess this is goodbye for now. But don't worry, I'll see you _real_ soon." He was beginning to fade, Ventus panicked and darted forward to try and grab him. Unfortunately, his hands grappled with only thin air, Vanitas laughed as he furthered into a transparent state.

"Take me with you!" Ventus begged, thoughtlessly, helplessly. He couldn't stay there. Couldn't stand the thought of it now that his darker self was being set free back into the world. Under any other circumstances, he would've never given Vanitas the satisfaction of seeing him so weak. But he wasn't above anything when it came to the safety of his beloved friends. He would do _anything_ just to see them again. "You need me anyway, remember? Take me, it's the only chance you've got of merging with me!"

"Merge with you?" Vanitas asked, his amber eyes sharpened and cruel amusement. "Why Ventus. I'm going to _kill_ you." He waved at the astonishment on the other boy's face, disappearing completely from sight; leaving the blonde completely alone in the void of darkness. Ventus turned with a sharp breath of pained fear. A silent wish stifled his mayhem, a hope for his this person, whoever this heart belonged to, that they stop Vanitas from whatever it was he planned to do. It was so hard to standby and watch from the sidelines, unable to do anything. But what other choice did he have?

•¶•

Sora doubled over quite suddenly in his chair, a sharp sort of pain dashed through him and caused a gasp to escape him. Donald and Goofy reacted at once, setting the Gummi Ship to autopilot while they rushed from their own seats and went to check on their friends. "Sora!" quacked the avian, placing two feathered hands on his shoulders as his breathing turned harsh. "What's wrong, are you okay?"

He wasn't sure, he didn't even know exactly what that was, just that he'd felt less than alright. Like something important had been ripped out of him. The pain subsided very quickly, Sora straightened reluctantly and looked out towards the void of black space through the windshield. "I'm...I'm fine now. Don't know what it was."

Certainly, it wasn't nothing. These things never turned out to be _nothing._


End file.
